Reverse Psychology
by WriterFreak001
Summary: Sometimes a twist of fate as all we need to set things right.
1. Chapter 1

**WriterFreak001:**

This story popped into my head when I was thinking about the finale. I'm hoping it'll only be a one-shot, but I have a feeling it'll be a few chapters long.

* * *

 **Title** | Reverse Psychology

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Sometimes a twist of fate as all we need to set things right.

 **Rating** | T

 **Disclaimer** | I don't own Scorpion, but if I did, we'd still have a show on the air.

* * *

 **Reverse Psychology**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

"So I hear that the Portland Sea Dogs are in town…" Toby mused as he took a seat next to Paige in the small company breakroom to eat his lunch.

"I know," Paige replied before taking a swig of her water. "Drew called two nights ago and said he would be in town… Wanted to spend an afternoon with Ralph if he could."

"And is he?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it. Ralph has visited Drew in Maine in the past, so if Ralph wants to, I'm not going to stop him from spending time with his _father_."

"And does Ralph want to?" Toby couldn't help his naturally curious self, and he noticed Paige twitch a little.

"Surprisingly, yes. It's weird because he complained the last time he visited Drew about how dull it is in Maine, but for whatever reason, he agreed to meet up with him." Paige reached for her dinner roll and took a gentle bite from it. "I think he's avoiding me and is using Drew as the perfect excuse."

"Or," Toby shrugged casually, "Ralph just might want to spend time with Drew… He's getting older now…, and sometimes, no offense, a teen talking to his mom about sensitive topics can get super weird. So maybe he just wants to talk to Drew… about guy stuff."

"Not likely," Paige frowned, taking offense. "Ralph is a smart boy and knows that any advice Drew might offer would be awful. If Ralph wants advice on certain things, there's only one person he'll go to, and we both know who that is."

"True," Toby nodded, agreeing that Paige had a point. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. "But maybe there's something Ralph is curious about that Walter might not have any experience in… since, you know, he seems to lack that certain charm when it comes to the ladies."

Paige bit her cheek, wishing she had never said what she said to Walter in front of the whole team. "I'll have you know that… _you_ know… did have charm. And lots of it, since he was a constant babe magnet to a lot of Scorpion's previous clients and associates, but I'm not going into that now because we're talking about my son. Not _him_. And so help me God, if Ralph asks Drew about _those_ kinds of questions, I swear, I'll never let him out of the apartment until he's 25."

"He's considered an adult at 18…" Toby noted, receiving a glare from the mother for mocking her. "Relax," he held his hands up in defeat. "I'm sure Ralph won't ask Drew those kinds of things… He already knows what they are based on all the textbooks he's had to read in school, and besides… after the whole Patty bombshell, I don't think Ralph is interested in dating anytime soon."

Paige's brow arched. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," Toby sank into his chair, "Patty was his first crush, and that blew up in his face. We both know Ralph has always looked up to… you know… because they're so much alike, and when a hot chick like yourself – my words, not Ralph's – dates a nerdy weirdo like197, Ralph probably felt like there was a chance he could find someone _normal_ too. But since you and you know broke up, there's a strong possibility that Ralph doesn't feel like that anymore… that there's no hope in romantic love…."

Paige never thought about that… She knew breaking up with _him_ would have unseen repercussions like Ralph closing himself off again… The only time he ever seemed truly himself was whenever she let him visit her ex… She knew that even a breakup couldn't separate the two, and though she would never take Ralph's best friend away from him, she couldn't help but feel jealous at times.

"Anyway," Toby continued, "Regardless of why Ralph wants to meet with Drew, is Baker coming over here? Or, are you dropping Ralph off somewhere?"

"I don't want Drew to know where Ralph and I live at this point, so I've arranged for Drew to pick up Ralph here this afternoon. Ralph will be home in about an hour, and Drew plans to stop by around four. They're going to have dinner together – just the two of them…, and then maybe go to the planetarium or something. Drew said he'd drop Ralph back off around ten."

"And do you trust him?"

Paige thought for a moment. "You know, ever since we've had minimal contact with each other, Drew hasn't seemed all that bad. He's more responsible now… he has a stable career and makes a lot more money than he did in the minor league. He does travel a lot though considering his profession. But since he's spent time with Ralph in Maine unsupervised and ended up bring my son back to me safely, I think I can trust him more with Ralph than I ever did before…"

"Please tell me you're not falling for him again," Toby cringed at the very thought, and Paige laughed lightly.

"No. Of course not. Drew is a good dad with Ralph whenever the two are together, but when Drew left for Maine several years ago, when I chose to stay in LA, I made a promise that I would never let his charm overcome me again. I'm not the same girl I was back then." Paige plopped a grape into her mouth and hummed.

Toby couldn't help himself. "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you and Drew had stayed together, gotten married, and even had more kids?"

Paige pursed her lips before nodding slowly. "I used to… for several years when Ralph was a little boy… wonder about those kinds of things…, but shortly after meeting W—I mean, joining Scorpion, those sorts of fantasies faded. They came back a few times when Drew was visiting the first time, but after he left again, they stopped… and I haven't thought about a potential life with Drew ever since."

Toby nodded with understanding. But he had to go a little further. "What about with Tim. Ever thought you two could be more than what you were?"

Paige shrugged as she plopped another grape into her mouth. "I never considered a future with Tim… It was unfair to him, but to me, he was more like a means to an end… At least, that's how I felt when we started dating… And when he left for Turkey, even though we promised to attempt a long-distance relationship, I knew in my heart it wouldn't work. Drew and I tried one, and that failed miserably. And to be honest, I doubt Tim thought of me as more than a fling as well. Sure, we cared about each other, but our feelings never blossomed into anything more than physical attraction."

Toby reached over the table and plucked one of Paige's grapes off of its stem before popping it into his own mouth. "And with _him_? Did you ever have those sorts of fantasies about _him_?"

Paige was silent for several minutes as tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked them back, but one managed to slip from her control and fell down her cheek. "They haven't stopped."

Toby felt sorry for his friend… He had known all along that both Paige and Walter still have the hots for each other, but neither one of them will admit it, and perhaps they never will. He couldn't help himself as he leaned over the table and reached for Paige's shoulder, giving her a small but sad smile. "In time, if it's meant to be, they will eventually fade."

Paige shook her head as more tears fell. "That's the thing," she sniffed loudly and wiped her cheeks. "I don't want them to."

* * *

It took almost an hour to console Paige, but when he reminded her that Ralph was going to be home soon, she was quick to pick herself back up as if the past fifty-five minutes never happened. While she disappeared to wash her face in the bathroom and freshen up a bit, Ralph came into the small Centipede office space and dropped his backpack off on the couch before lounging on it.

Toby took an opportunity to talk to the teen while his mother was washing up. Casually, the shrink dropped into the chair next to Ralph and said, "So, you're meeting up with your dad?"

"Yeah," Ralph replied simply and quickly as he pulled out his laptop.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what the heck can you possibly accomplish by hanging out with your deadbeat dad? You're not going to ask him anything related to the birds and bees, are you? Because other than _that sort of conversation_ , I can't imagine what you might enjoy while hanging out with that jock." Toby sat back into the chair and patiently waited for Ralph to respond.

"… I've got things to say to him," Ralph said slowly. "Things I would rather keep to myself for now because if I say it all before I see him, I might not have the courage to say them to him. And no, I'm not asking him about the _birds and bees_ … I already know all that stuff, and if I did need to know something about that, I wouldn't talk to my dad; I'd talk to Walter."

"I see," Toby nodded as he propped his ankle on top of his knee. "But you know… Walter doesn't really know anything about that sort of thing… His experience is limited."

"He knows enough," was all Ralph would say on the topic, and it was clear he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Anyway, I've got homework to complete before Dad shows up. Since I can't work at home, I need to focus here."

Toby feigned defeat as he rose his hands before standing up. "Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Your mom's in the bathroom and will be out in a moment. Let her know I had to bounce; the wife needs me to pick up a jar of dill pickle wholes for her more recent craving… If history repeats itself, then let Paige know I might not be in until mid-morning tomorrow. There'll be other cravings she'll want me to help with."

"Gross," Ralph grimaced as he threw his plastic pencil case at the shrink but missed, it landing somewhere near his mom's desk.

"Thanks, kid." Toby winked with a smirk, chuckling from Ralph's expression. "I knew I could count on you."

Ralph sighed and rolled eyes as he returned to his homework, deciding to pick up his pencil case later.

* * *

Ralph did eventually tell his mother about what Toby said, and he could have sworn she said she was going to have a talk with the shrink about his lack of tact, but other than relaying that message, he didn't say much else. It wasn't because he didn't _want_ to talk to her; he just wasn't sure if he knew _how_ to talk to her anymore. At least about anything he was feeling.

Since the breakup, Ralph experienced a lot of different feelings throughout the last several months. First, he was angry with his mother because she lost faith in Walter even when Ralph understood that his mentor wasn't cheating on her. Then, for weeks, all he felt was sorrow. Immense sorrow for both Walter and Paige for completely misunderstanding the other. If only they had been more honest with each other would they still be together today. After hearing both sides of the story on multiple occasions, he couldn't pinpoint blame on either one of them. Both were to blame for different reasons, and he couldn't be upset with either one of them because those reasons stemmed from bigger parts of their lives, ones that were – for most of the part – out of their control. They, themselves, might not be able to realize it, but Ralph could, and at least where he stood, he knew at least one person who was at fault for his mother's insecurities. Drew.

And so, when the opportunity came about, he agreed to meet with his dad because he knew he would never have another chance to say the things he wanted to say to Drew's face. Though Ralph knew that his mother's lack of trust didn't completely stem from Drew alone, he knew – at least – that his biological father was the main reason and leading cause to why his mother lost faith in men altogether.

For all Drew knew, they were going to have a nice meal together and perhaps go to some spectator event, but Ralph had other plans. Drew was on his turf, and he was going to put him in his proper place whatever it takes.

So here they are, at dinner together, eating quietly. Occasionally, Drew would throw out a question or two, and Ralph would politely answer, but when his dad asked him why he was being so quiet, Ralph couldn't stay silent any longer.

"It's your fault they've broken up."

Drew's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Ralph frowned. "Because of you, mom's insecurities about men come to a head every time things get rough. There have been several occasions as to when Mom almost left Walter because of a dumb mistake, but because of one lie, she broke things off with Walter, and now they're both miserable. I can see it in their eyes. I'm not as emotionally stunted as they think I am. The reason I agreed to meet with you is not because I wanted to hang out, _dad._ I wanted to let you know that because of the way you treated Mom way back then, she lets one dumb lie get under her skin and accuses Walter of cheating on her."

Drew's eyes widened. "Wait, Walter cheated on her? That emotionally-constipated nerd turd cheated on her?" He couldn't help but smirk. "Well I'll be damned."

"NO!" Ralph shouted, slamming his fists on top of the table. "You're not listening! You never listen!" His outburst shut Drew up pretty quickly, and Ralph continued. "It's YOUR fault, don't you get it!? Because you just _had_ to cheat on Mom all those years ago, she can't seem to let go of the past."

"My involvement with your mother has nothing to do with her relationship with Walter," Drew replied with a frown. "I know I was a messed-up piece of shit back then and took the both of you for granted, but Walter and I are totally different dudes. I could tell from the moment I saw him admiring your mother that she was the only one for him. Even a jerk like me, as your friends often call me, could see that even if I didn't want to. Why would Paige ever think he would cheat on her?"

"Because he overheard us talking about a lecture she didn't want to go to. Walter lied and told her it was canceled to spare her feelings but instead of missing the lecture, he decided to go, except he didn't want to waste the ticket, so he asked a female friend to go with him. The only reason Mom thinks he cheated on her was because he neglected to tell her about it… If she has any chance of breaking this cycle… of learning how to trust good men again, then you have to do something about it."

"Me?" Drew pointed to himself as if he wasn't the only other option. "Why me?"

"Because you're the one who broke her heart the first time," Ralph glowered at his dad before letting out a huff of air. "You need to tell her she needs to move on from the past and realize that not all men are jerks like you."

Drew sat still for a moment before sighing. "I really did a number on her, didn't I?"

"You have no idea."

* * *

Paige couldn't believe the amount of paperwork she still had left to sort through but had planned to go tackle it while Ralph was out with Drew. Stacked in three tall piles was the paperwork from the last three months, and since she was sort of the new leader of the team, she hadn't had much time to file anything. And heaven forbid if any of the others decide to pitch in.

Carefully, she carried one stack in her arms and maneuvered around the office until she was at her desk. Gently, she placed the stack on top of her desk and walked away to grab the second one. With some success, she managed to carry the second stack to her desk except for two sheets flying off the top. She moved to pick up those two sheets of paper, but as she took a step forward, her foot slid on something slippery, causing her to lose her balance. Sliding on the object forced her forward, sending her flying several feet until something incredibly sharp on her desk smacked hard into her forehead.

She doubled over in pain as she coddled her right eyebrow, and when she tried to stand up, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she fumbled forward until she was flat on the ground, motionless.

Ralph's small pencil case was the last thing she saw before everything went dark.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

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 **WriterFreak001:**

So this is definitely going to be a multi-chapter fic. I hope I won't go over 5 chapters for this story. Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**WriterFreak001:**

 **Wow! I am so pleased so many enjoyed the first chapter! Some of you guessed where I might be going with this story, and I'm excited to share it with you! :)**

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 **CHAPTER TWO**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

Paige groaned lowly as morning light bore through her eyelids and protested as she twisted around, hoping to sleep a little longer so that she could get rid of her god-awful headache. But just as she was beginning to drift off to sleep again, a strong, well-toned arm found its way around her stomach, pulling her closer to the source. She smiled giddily, thinking she was re-experiencing one of her latest fantasies with her most recent ex-boyfriend. As she slid her left hand over his and squeezed his palm gently, she felt his warm breath tickling her neck.

Oh, how she wished that this could be her reality. She hummed as he trailed light kisses along her bare shoulder and bit her lower lip as his mouth tickled that sensitive spot just below her neck. Paige reached back behind her and curled her fingers through her lover's hair, not noticing the lack of thick curls which were usually present in these sort of fantasies.

"I've missed you, my love," Paige whispered quietly, giggling and rolling her eyes upward as he smothered the back of her neck in fluttering kisses.

Damn.

If this dream was real, she never wanted to wake up.

"I guess that means you're feeling better?"

Paige's froze for a moment, her eyes popping open to the unexpected sound of the man's voice. Swiftly, she turned to confirm who was groping her, and when she saw that _he_ was _not_ _ **him**_ , but Drew, her ex-ex-ex-boyfriend, she threw his arms off her and scrambled off the bed. However, with her luck, gravity wasn't kind to her, and she gloriously tripped over one of her shamefully discarded garments and stumbled onto the floor in a tumbleweed of arms and legs. Drew, who – to her horror – wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing – immediately scuttled off the bed and scampered over to her, not even bothering to cover up in the process.

"OH MY GOD, DREW!" Paige shouted as she shielded her eyes, "COVER THAT _THING_ UP!"

"Why? It's nothing you haven't seen before…" Drew replied with genuine confusion even though he obeyed and slipped on a pair of boxers. When she heard elastic slap skin, she dared to peek before bringing her palm away from her face.

Paige frowned and stood up, completely stupefied as to why Drew was acting so clueless this morning. She opened her mouth to say something, but she immediately realized that she was standing stark nude in front of him. Paige instantly wrapped one arm around her chest and placed her other hand between her legs. "What the hell, you creep! Turn around!"

"What's wrong with you, Paige? First you tell me to cover up, and now you're suddenly gun-shy? Did you hit your head or something?" Drew crossed his arms, determined not to turn around.

"What's with me? What's with _you_?! Why the heck are you in my home, in my bed, and not wearing any clothes?!" Paige exclaimed as she spotted her bathrobe hanging on her closet door. Slowly, she sidestepped towards it. "I thought I made it pretty clear that we would never be together again."

Drew's eyebrow cocked as Paige quickly disappeared inside her closet before reappearing and wearing the robe. Then, he frowned. "And when did you make that decision? Last I checked, we've been married for the past twelve years. What happened over night to make you think differently?"

Paige folded her arms and arched a brow. "Are you out of your mind? We're not married! I've never married you."

"Oh yeah, then what's that?" Drew spat as he pointed to something to her right.

She spun in that direction, and her breath caught when she saw a wedding photo of Drew, herself, and a two-year-old Ralph. Just what the hell?! "No. This can't be right." She shook her head vigorously. "We're not married, and we're definitely not seeing each other right now." Paige was livid. "Did Toby put you up to this? If so, this isn't funny!"

Drew slipped on his pants and pulled a t-shirt over his head before responding. "Who the hell is Toby?!"

"You know damn well who he is!" Paige couldn't believe this man! What the heck was he trying to prove?

But before Drew could respond, a high-pitched exclamation caught her off guard. "Mommy!" A little girl with dark, somewhat curly, brown hair ran up towards her with arms wide open and jumped into her arms, giving her a tight embrace. "Guess what! Guess what!"

Paige remained silent at first, shocked from the little girl's presence. Drew stepped in on her behalf as if he wasn't surprised at all.

"What is it, pumpkin?"

The little girl beamed ear to ear. "I lost a tooth! See?!" She raised her lower jaw until her bottom teeth were protruding out of her mouth to show them her great accomplishment. She then opened her hand and presented the baby tooth in her palm. Drew carefully took it and placed it on his dresser.

"I'll leave it here until you go to bed. Then, we'll be sure to put it under your pillow for the Tooth Fairy." Drew smiled gently before taking the little girl out of Paige's arms. "Now, be a good girl and finish getting dressed for the day. Don't want to be late for school, Veronica."

 _Veronica?_ Paige shuddered to think that she would ever name any daughter of hers after her mother. Though her relationship with her mother is better than it was before, the last thing she wanted was to have a kid named after her.

"I don't know why you're so confused, Paige, but maybe you're still hungover after the party last night. Stay home and get some rest; I'll call your co-workers and let them know you're unwell. If you start to feel better, see if you can convince Ralph to leave his bedroom for a change." Drew stated as he finished getting ready. He grabbed his baseball cap and added, "I'll take Veronica and Rebecca to school today on the way to work."

"Rebecca?" Paige quietly questioned, wondering if she supposedly had another kid in this strange reality.

Drew sighed. "You know, our oldest daughter?

"Right," she shrunk a little, pretending like she knew who he was talking about. "That Rebecca."

"Get some rest," Drew replied as he walked over to her and attempted to kiss her goodbye. Paige swiftly dodged his puckered lips and forced out a cough.

"You don't want to do that," she quickly thought of an excuse and forced a burp out. "I've got vomit breath."

Drew sighed and turned towards the door, almost defeated. "Whatever."

When he left the room, Paige took her chance to lock the door behind him, so that she could mentally process everything that was going on.

But the moment she clicked the lock, a sharp ringing pierced her ears. She grasped her forehead, feeling the dulling pain from earlier ever more present. The world around her began to spin, shake, triple and retract all at once, distorting everything she was feeling and experiencing.

" _Oh God. PAIGE!"_ cried a faint echo in her mind, and it sounded familiar. Too familiar, but she couldn't remember whose voice it belonged to. Descriptions to what sounded like a murder scene were being sputtered out in scrambled sentences, the panicked voice unable to speak in complete sentences before demanding for someone or something to arrive quickly.

And suddenly, another voice – like Drew's – interjected, yelling incomprehensively. The sound of his voice, unlike the first one, was doubled like clashing notes on a piano, causing the pain in her skull to increase. She pressed her palms into her eyes and crumbled over as her ears starting ringing.

" _MOM!"_

The pain in Paige's mind immediately stopped to the sound of her son's voice, and her heart broke from how desperate and scared he seemed. The memory of what happened before she woke up in this strange universe was coming back to her now. She had fallen, tripped on something on the floor and busted her head as she fell. Then everything went blank until she woke up here, in this strange reality.

She closed her eyes and slowly let out a breath. "I gotta get out of here."

* * *

Walter knew he had no business walking towards the Centipede Headquarters, but because Ralph had practically begged him to talk to Paige while he was out with Drew, Walter couldn't really say no. He would do anything for that boy if given the chance.

Walter knew it was a bad idea to begin with and considered chickening out after he had arrived in the parking lot with his car, but for whatever reason, he was compelled to see this all the way through. When he got to the front door and rang the doorbell, no one answered.

He frowned. "I could have sworn Ralph said she'd be here almost all night…"

Walter pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed Paige's number before calling. After several rings, no one answered so he tried knocking on the door. After five hard knocks, he was sure someone would have let him in, but nobody did. He peered through the window in the off chance that she might have not heard him and immediately froze when he saw two limp feet.

When he eventually came to his senses, he raced off to find the sharpest rock in the company's front lawn before smashing it into the lower right panel of the door. The glass shattered instantly, and he stuck his hand in, using his sleeve to knock away the remaining broken glass before twisting the lock and opening the door from the inside. As the door swung open, broken glass swept across the floor as Walter ran past it, leaving the door ajar.

"Oh God. PAIGE!" he yelled, voice thick with panic as he scrambled over to her. He covered his mouth as he assessed the situation, noticing the puddle of blood seeping beneath her head. His fingers shook as he dialed 9-1-1, and when the operator answered, he struggled to tell them that Paige was hurt, and in a hurried jumble of words, he eventually said, "Please! Arrive as quickly as you can!"

Unsure if he should move her, he reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and gently pressed it underneath her forehead in hopes that it would staunch her blood flow.

Without warning, the door he forgot to close forcibly slammed open. "What the hell happened?!" Drew stormed over to him as if whatever was going on was his fault, and he frowned. "Did _you_ do this to her?!"

"No! Of course not!" Walter gritted his teeth. "I found her like this. The ambulance is on their way." He paused for a second. "Where's Ralph?"

"I saw the broken glass, so I left him where he was."

" _Where_ is he?!" Walter reiterated, wanting to grab Drew's collar but refrained for obvious reasons.

"Relax, man." Drew rose his hands in mock defense, "he's in the car."

"Go get him. He needs to be here." Walter ordered, but Drew didn't move.

"No. If anything, he _shouldn't_ be in here. I'm his father, and what I say goes."

But before Walter could reply all of the insults he wanted to throw at the dumb jock, Ralph's interjection stopped him.

"MOM!" Ralph shouted as he scrambled over to Paige's limp body and touched her arm gently. "Is she alive? Is she okay? What happened?"

"I don't know," Walter replied, "but if I had a guess, she might have tripped." Walter's eyes spotted a small, blue pencil case on the floor near where her feet would have been before the fall. "And from the looks of it, she tripped over that and then smacked her forehead against the corner of her desk _."_ He pointed to the blood splattered on the corner.

Ralph was silent as he observed the path Walter had mapped out based on the evidence at hand and froze the moment his eyes landed on the item his mentor had showed him. He wanted to vomit.

"This is all my fault. I didn't put it away!" Ralph's throat clenched tightly. "Why didn't I remember to put that away!"

Before Walter could tell Ralph differently, a team of paramedics came rushing through the door with a stretcher. All three of them backed away from Paige as the team carefully latched a brace around her neck before turning her over. They picked her limp body off the ground and placed her on the stretcher before carrying her out.

"Come on," Walter said as he touched Ralph's shoulder. "Let's follow."

"Ralph will go with me," Drew replied swiftly, ushering his son away from Walter.

Ralph backed away. "I want to go with Walter."

Drew didn't have the energy to fight and sighed, "Whatever," as he left without the other two. Walter and Ralph weren't too far behind.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **WriterFreak001:**

I hope you're enjoying this story so far! I anticipate about six or seven chapters, and I'm super excited to write them! :) Please let me know what you think!


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